The present invention is in the technical field of transportation. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of automobiles. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of light passenger vehicles. More particularly, this invention is in the field of hybrid electric vehicles incorporating both an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor (EM) as sources of power and torque to drive the vehicle. More particularly, this invention relates to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which are capable of using electric power only for short distances (no gasoline or diesel fuel needed) of approximately 80 miles (depending upon a variety of circumstances and capacity of the battery pack) but are capable of using gasoline or diesel fuel (which are quickly refueled) to significantly expand the range of the vehicle.